Existing metal or plastic skiving or scarfing machines are widely used for finishing edges or surfaces of continuous strip or cut strip materials. The material is moved axially along a guided path past one or more stationary tools which cut or shave swarf off the material to expose the finished edge profile or surface.
Typically, with conventional machines, a rake angle for a tool is pre-set prior to running and then the tool's position relative to the material is adjusted using machine precision slides to set the cutting depth. The rake angle for the tool enables cutting to a required depth without excessive tendency of the tool to dig into the material.
The stability of cutting in conventional machines is dependant upon the accuracy of guiding the material while being subjected to tool loading, the accuracy of tool positioning, the rake angle, and the stiffness of the mechanical system supporting the material relative to the tool. The tool positioning slide is customarily a precision screwjack unit with zero backlash and high rigidity. Because of the difficulty of maintaining high consistent accuracy of material and tool engagement, tools tend to cut with some chatter present, digging in and then releasing the material in a cyclic wave. This spoils the material finish. Any change in position of the tool or its mounts because of vibration instantly changes the cut, frequently resulting in sustained oscillation. If the material has a side curvature or camber, the problem is exacerbated as it is difficult to keep the material in a constant path as it is linearly pulled, not only due to the material's curvature but also due to distortion of the material as it is pulled linearly.
Any adjustment of the cut in a leading cutting station in such an arrangement results in the need to readjust all of the following stations.